


Sharp Suits and Sly Smiles

by SomebodyOwens



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 12:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8890570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomebodyOwens/pseuds/SomebodyOwens
Summary: He chased them so hard that they caught him.
A seduction in 5 (+1) parts.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sirona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirona/gifts).



> This is an AU, both in the fact that there's no hockey involved, and in the distinct lack of work done by these supposed coffee shop employees. But you're not really reading this fic for the realism, are you?
> 
> Many thanks to [you know who you are] for the handholding and for not laughing in my face as I panicked at the deadline and to [so do you] for the speedy beta-ing.

1\. An Introduction

"Who are you? I want Nicky back!" 

Braden blinks at the customer who hasn't so much walked as barreled through the front door of Slap Shot. 

"What can I get started for you?"

The guy doesn't order, though, just purses his lips and gives Braden an exaggerated once over. "Not Nicky, but not too bad."

Braden rolls his eyes and repeats himself. "Can I get something started for you?"

"Latte, 3 shots. In one of the big mugs, and extra foam. And put a syrup in it. Don't care what, just want it sweet."

Braden has been making coffee for long enough to spot the regulars, even in a new shop, and while the guy is kind of a dick, he also looks like he's just woken up and and Braden can't really hold the lack of caffeine against him. He takes the man's cash, then sets about making his drink. He's mildly tempted to add a few shakes of salt to the mug, but he's faced worse. He can ask Nicky about the guy later, see if he's always a dick or if Braden got special treatment.

He adds a generous pump of hazelnut syrup, then on a whim, adds a bit of his own honey syrup to the milk before he steams it. He hands it over with a simple leaf shape in the foam; there's no way this guy deserves fancy latte art.

The guy takes a suspicious sip and immediately, his eyes widen. He takes another sip, and then another, and then a gulp large enough to make Braden cringe. That coffee is _hot_. The guy dramatically licks the foam from his upper lip, winks, and takes the coffee to a table by the window.

Braden has been working at Slap Shot for all of a week, which he's pretty sure is not enough time to be making a Shit Customers list, but this guy is doing an excellent job of convincing him to start. He pretty much ignores Braden (which isn't terrible) in favor of whining at Nicky whenever he emerges from the back. 

First it's, "Nicky. Nicky, I'm lonely."

"No, you're not. Go back to work."

Then he tries, "Have decided. I work better with company. Sit!"

"Not happening. I need to watch the scones in the oven."

And after silence has descended in the shop again, "Nickyyyyyyyy, why don't you make sushki for me any more?"

The third time that Nicky rolls his eyes as the guy yells, Braden wonders out loud why Nicky hasn't just kicked his pest out of the shop yet. 

"I did." Nicky says, voice flat and unamused, as he kicks open the kitchen door and gestures for Braden to bring the cooled scones out into the shop. "But he came back. Like a cockroach."

"Hey! Do cockroaches bring you presents like I do?"

"A photocopy of your mother's recipe, in a language I don't read, doesn't count as a present."

"Pah! I--"

"A recipe which you then demanded I bake, because you would die without it."

"Ok, maybe not the best present. I think of better one." The guy nods decisively, then turns back to his computer.

"I'm supposed to head out now but do you want me to stay?" Braden offers, half because of the whining guy and half because he just plain wants to make Nicky like him. 

"No, you go. I'm good here. Time to close up in a bit. Maybe I'll make this guy help sweep the floors."

"Oh no, sorry, Nicky. Must go. Very busy!" the guy says, shoving his computer and papers into his bag before draining the last sip of his coffee and pausing just long enough to lick saucily at the remaining foam. He's barely out the door when Nicky turns back.

"See? Just fine." He grins at Braden, a little smile that barely pulls at his lips, and Braden leaves Slap Shop wondering just what sort of shenanigans he's gotten himself into.

 

2\. A Re-Introduction

The second time Braden meets Nicky's Pest is nothing at all like the first. A few days later, the door bangs open and the same guy whirlwinds in again, stopping short when he sees Braden. He looks contrite (or at least what he thinks contrite is supposed to look like). "Nicky says I owe you an apology. Not supposed to scare new barista. Nicky says you won't make coffee if I'm not nice, so very sorry I was loud and mean."

_Definitely_ the expression of someone who is merely pretending to be contrite.

"Ah, thanks? Apology accepted. Can I get something started for you?"

"Yes! Whatever you make last time! Was perfect!" He leans in close. Braden ignores his instincts, leans in too. "Don't tell Nicky, but you make best coffee. Nicky coffee good, but you make perfect!"

"But I still have your mother's sushki recipe," comes Nicky's sticky sweet voice from the kitchen doorway, 

Braden doesn't try to stop his bark of laughter at the guy's completely stupefied expression, but the shock quickly melts into a sort of wide-eyed glee.

"Nicky, you threaten me? I'm so proud!"

"Not threatening, Alex. Just pointing out the facts."

"So mean! I promise Nicky baking is most best. No fair being best at everything. Is ok that--" He pauses and frowns. "You make best coffee and I don't know your name!"

"Braden Holtby." He sticks out a hand, which Alex shakes emphatically. "But people usually call me Holts."

"Good! Holts best at coffee, Nicky best at baking and threatening, Alex best at everything else!"

Nicky just rolls his eyes. 

The batch of little round, poppy seed topped pastries that Nicky bakes without fanfare the next week aren't really a surprise. Or at least then aren't a surprise once Braden asks Nicky what they are, and Nicky calls them sushki while looking aggressively nonchalant. Ah, of course. And Alex eats them, three when he first notices them, then just one per sitting, spreading them out and making them last. 

That would be the end of the puzzle that is Nicky and Alex's relationship, were it not for, of all things, the lasagna. Alex was working furiously one afternoon when he pauses to stretch and pull out a container to snack from. Alex often pulls food out of his bag when he's settled in for a long afternoon of work, so this shouldn't be remarkable, except that Nicky was just eating the same thing. 

The _exact_ same thing. Braden had wandered by Alex's table to refill his teapot, and the rectangular green-topped container with the pile of meaty lasagna, overflowing with cheese and spinach had looked jarringly familiar. It wasn't until Braden was fishing his own lunch out of the fridge that he placed it. There, on the top shelf of the employee fridge, was a container that Nicky had been eating from earlier, identical to Alex's. Same brand, same lid, same lasagna. 

After that, Braden starts looking. Alex and Nicky have the same food twice more that week, and another three times the next week. There's a grey plaid scarf that either they are sharing, or both wear often but never at the same time. Nicky has a deep blue sweater that Braden not-so-secretly covets, since it's basically the softest thing he's ever touched, and he does a covert double take when he notices Alex wearing a very similar sweater. It's tighter across his shoulders, of course, but it's definitely the same sweater. 

Braden spends a week wondering if he should spell out his observations and ask Nicky what their deal is, then convincing himself that if they haven't said anything yet, they're clearly uncomfortable with Braden knowing that they're dating. Married. Together. 

But Braden never gets the chance to confront them. Instead, he picks exactly the wrong (right?) time to take the recycling out. He gets two steps out the door and sees Alex sandwiched between Nicky and the brick wall, Nicky's hands pinning Alex's above his head as they kiss furiously.

Of course, Braden can't just creep back inside without disturbing them. Of course the door bangs shut behind him, and of course Nicky and Alex jump apart. 

Alex licks his lips, smirks, and presses a quick kiss to Nicky's lips. "Reward for finishing chapter layout. Nicky best at helping me work." Then he darts behind Braden and back into the shop. Braden turns to Nicky, who is flushed and rumpled and failing utterly at looking serious. Braden manages an, "Uh, was that--"

Nicky looks sheepish. "I can explain?"

 

3\. A drunken revelation

Once the secret is out, Nicky and Alex are less subtle. 

That's not entirely accurate. Nicky is incrementally less subtle, and Alex is all but wearing shirts that say "property of Nicklas Backstrom." If such a shirt existed, Alex would probably have one for each day of the week.

Alex still bothers Nicky at the shop, but they leave together now, and sometimes even arrive together in the morning, when Alex has serious deadlines and needs to spend all day holed up at the shop so he is only a little distracted and Nicky can harass him back on track as needed. 

The first time they drag Braden out for drinks after the shop closes, they end up explaining how the guy who had Braden's job last didn't take too kindly to the information that Alex and Nicky were together. 

"He didn't last long." Alex says, eyes narrowed, and that's not terrifying at all. "You staying, though, right?"

Braden nods. "Yeah, definitely. I like Slap Shot and I like you guys. Plus, it would, uh, be pretty hypocritical of me if I wasn't cool with my coworker dating guys." 

The second time they drag Braden out for drinks, they also drag along a former Slap Shot barista ("He left us for stupid bread store, but we forgive him.") who Alex calls Osh until he properly introduces himself as TJ. 

TJ is possibly the bro-iest guy Braden has ever met, and he uncharitably expects conversation to be dominated by football and hot chicks and drinking stories, but all it takes is one well-placed comment from Nicky and TJ is off talking about his newly rescued kittens. There are photos and everything, and Braden finds that he doesn't mind one bit spending an evening at a chill bar with a beer in one hand and a phone full of kitten pictures on the table in front of him. 

Kitten photos give way to childhood pet stories and then to all the world travel they've dreamed of. Braden wonders, after the third leading question from Nicky, if they're trying to set him up with TJ. 

Even though they've only spent a beer and a half of time together, Braden likes TJ. He seems like an interesting guy, and Braden would gladly share a drink with him regularly. But he doesn't get that spark of connection that makes him want to spend the next week right here at this table. He doesn't feel anything more than casual friendship, not like the warm, blushy feelings he feels for Alex and Nicky.

Oh.

Oh, that's not good.

Braden takes a deep swig of his beer to hide for a second. That's inconvenient. But hey, not the first time Braden has weathered a crush on a coworker. Not the first time he's set his sights on someone entirely unobtainable. 

Drinks dates, like disasters, seem to come in threes, and it's the third outing, a celebration for Alex turning in this month's layouts, that provides Braden's imagination with the worst kind of inspiration. 

Alex insists on shots, because he's finished his pages, and they look damn good. 

"You do this every month, Alex. Layouts are literally your job."

"Yes, but _on time_ , Nicky!"

"... All right, that's fair." 

Which is how Braden finds himself wedged in a booth with an armful of guffawing Alex, as TJ giggles across the table and Nicky placidly orders another round of ridiculously lewd cocktail shots. Red Headed Sluts are followed by Blue Balls, and finally Caribbean Threesomes.

It's the last drink that makes Alex sigh mournfully into to his responsibly ordered water glass. 

"Still sad I never have threesome. What good is University if not for all the sex?"

"Why limit yourself, dude? You're you, and everything still works, right--ow, Nicky, that hurt!

"You still single, so you don't know this, but when dating someone, is not nice to bring up other people you want to have sex with."

"Really, Alex?" Nicky drawls, "Because here I was thinking that a threesome could be fun."

 

4\. A plan unfolds

The string of texts waiting for Braden when he wakes up the next morning is both encouraging and a little humiliating.

Unknown Number: Yesterday - 9:54pm  
Ur gonna hit that rite?

Unknown Number: Yesterday - 10:13pm  
Dude

Unknown Number: Yesterday - 10:22pm  
They want u

Unknown Number: Yesterday - 10:51pm  
Ohshit u want them 2!!!

Unknown Number: Today - 12:05am  
Cmon im rootin for u now

Unknown Number: Today - 10:22am  
Its tj btw

You: Today - 11:37am  
I think that's a stretch.

TJ BROshie: Today - 11:38am  
Nah that table was a whole bunch of wanting in pants

You: Today -11:42am  
You too? 

TJ BROshie: Today 11:44am  
Not sayin it woudnt be hot but nah, i got a thing maybe happening with a lady at georgetown cupcake

You: Today - 11:52am  
Did I miss a memo somewhere? Are coffee shop and bakery employees only allowed to date their own kind? 

TJ BROshie: Today - 11:56am  
LOLLLLLL

TJ BROshie: Today - 11:57am  
If i say yes will u get on that 

TJ BROshie: Today - 11:58am  
And by that i mean NICK AND ALEX

Braden isn't willing to give TJ the satisfaction of admitting that yes, he's entirely right, that's exactly what Braden wants (short of declarations of romance and promises of forever, but there's fantasy and then there's just plain absurdity. Alex and Nicky might be into a threesome, but they're clearly a matched set). He's honest enough with himself that he won't pretend otherwise, of course. He just doesn't plan to tell TJ. 

TJ doesn't seem to need confirmation, though, and continues to fill Braden's phone with poorly spelled texts of encouragement and seduction plans, in a range of flavors from sweet to filthy. Braden discards most of them in horror (no, he's absolutely not going to get himself evicted so he's forced to live with Nicky and Alex, what the hell TJ?). Anyway, he's perfectly capable of catching someone's eye. Or two someones. 

He starts simple, with the classic, "Oh, I've spilled coffee on my t-shirt. Good thing I've got a spare" and times it perfectly, stretching as he pulls his shirt over his head to show off his abs while both Nicky and Alex are sitting at the staff table in the kitchen. That move earns him a wolf whistle from Alex, and Braden awards himself an invisible point. 

When they're at the bar, Braden makes sure to give the rim of his beer bottle a little extra love. At work, Braden experiments with coffee combinations and tea blends until he finds the flavor combinations that make both Nicky and Alex sigh happily. He tells Alex lewd jokes when Alex is frowning unhappily at his laptop, and he always makes sure to get to the broom before Nicky at closing time, since sweeping is Nicky's least favorite task. 

(He does not, as TJ suggests, learn to make a latte art alphabet so he can spell out "will you have sex with me" over the course of 20 coffees. Though he does draw a crude cock and balls one dreary afternoon, when Alex is nursing a headache and fighting a deadline. It earns him a delighted guffaw from Alex _and_ a pleased smile from Nicky.)

Braden's slow but steady attempts to be eye catching are interrupted when he gets a call from the Washington Humane Society, offering him an interview for a job he had applied to months ago, and then assumed he didn't get. But now they do want the chance to speak with him, so Nicky kindly covers the early part of Braden's shift so Braden can try to impress the people at WHS. 

Braden knows he is under qualified for the job, but he does his best and dresses the part. As predicted, they tell him that they don't have a position to offer him, and as much as he had wanted this a couple months ago, Braden finds that he is a little relieved that he doesn't have to contemplate leaving Slap Shot. 

Going home after the interview feels like too much of a trek, especially since Slap Shot is just a few metro stops away from WHS. Which means showing up to work in an ageing, but still well cut, grey flannel suit. If he ditches the jacket and rolls up his sleeves, he shouldn't look too out of place. It's a safe assumption that Alex will have something to say, but when does he not?

Alex doesn't have a smart comment, exactly, but he does dramatically drop his jaw and knock over a stack of books when Braden walks in. Braden laughs, like Alex wants, but instead of giving him shit for being overdressed, Alex just yells for Nicky, who sticks his head out of the kitchen. 

"Oh! Holts you-- interview-- good?" Nicky sounds strangled, but it's not until Braden turns that he sees the blush high on Nicky's cheeks. And isn't that a good look. It's one Braden would like to put on Nicky's face more often. 

Well then. Perhaps Braden should wear suits more regularly, if it earns him the gape-jawed awe of both his crushes.

It's no hardship to casually switch out a few t-shirts for button downs and to trade his Birkenstocks for wing tips. Rolling his sleeves up his forearms is just a practicality, at least until he notices Nicky covertly staring at his arms. After that, it's a calculated choice. 

Alex is a little less subtle in the way he checks out Braden's ass, appreciation poorly hidden behind jokes about trunks with junk. Braden doesn't quite stoop to bending and snapping by Alex's table, but if he just so happens to bend over to restock the milk and sugar station while Alex is watching, well, that's just convenient. 

The suits aren't Braden's only plan of attack, of course. He still trades outrageous pick up lines with Alex and learns to brew Nicky's tea just right. More importantly, they chat more, sharing stories of childhood and future plans, and everything in between. Braden may well be trying to catch their eye, but he falls even more for Alex and Nicky every day. 

 

5\. A Dinner

Braden is pretty sure he's not imagining that something is different when Nicky invites him to dinner at the apartment he shares with Alex. They share meals all the time, but this feels more formal. Almost like a date. Alex answers the door in a soft burgundy sweater and slacks instead of his prefered loungewear, and Braden feels immediately justified in his choice to wear his grey flannel suit again.

They eat at the table instead of sprawled in the living room like they so often do, with an actual tablecloth, and candles. The entire set up screams date, so Braden allows himself two minutes to be nervous, before setting that aside in favor of charming his friends’ pants off. Hopefully literally.

Their conversation isn't that different from normal, teasing and sharing stories and laughing generously, but the air feels charged. Braden flirts a little more overtly, then spends the rest of the meal being pleased with himself and secretly smirking as both Nicky and Alex flirt right back. 

After the meal, Nicky heads into the living room first, as Alex follows with Braden into the living room, and Alex follows with refilled wine glasses. He holds one just out of Nicky's reach. "I bring you wine, what you give me for it?" Nicky takes the glass with one hand and curls the other around Alex's neck to draw him in for a kiss. Braden should probably look away, but the kiss is more heated than casual, and he can't seem to pull his eyes away from where Nicky's hand is twisted in Alex's hair. Eventually, they part, both looking a little flushed. 

Braden watches as Alex straightens then sidesteps over to where Braden is leaning against the doorframe. Perhaps he should be pretending that he wasn't just watching his friends make out, 

"What you give me? Maybe another kiss?" Alex smirks at Braden, like he knows full well that he's asking for something he shouldn't, but that he might just get it anyway. Braden slides his eyes over Alex's shoulder to Nicky, and finds him watching with that little, pleased smile on his face. Braden waits, and Nicky gives him a nod.

With that blessing collected, Braden brings his hand up to the back of Alex's neck and tangles it in the same hair Nicky gripped moments earlier. Alex's eyes go wide, but he leans in, and finally Alex's lips are against his. 

The kiss stays tame for a few beats, until Braden teases at Alex's lip with his tongue. He mostly means it as a test, to see how much Alex will let him get away with, but Alex takes it as an invitation, parting his own lips with a gasp then immediately sliding his tongue along Braden's. 

It's a hardship, but Braden finally manages to pull himself back. Talking. There should definitely be some talking before they go further. 

"I know what you're doing here." He starts, confident in his thoughts but still not wanting to say it first. 

"Doing? Not doing anything!" Alex tries to look angelic, but his lips are slick from Braden's mouth, and his hair rumpled from Nicky's hands. He misses angelic by a mile.

"I know this dinner was supposed to butter me up so you could ask me something." Braden can't help smirking a little as he says it. He's fairly confident at this point that they're going to have sex soon, and if he plays his cards right, he might even be able to convince them to have sex with him more than once. 

It's not quite everything he wants, but it gets him the hotness that is Nicky and Alex as well as their continued friendship, and that's most important.

Nicky crosses the room to stand next to Braden and Alex, their shoulders barely brushing.

"Yes. Do want to ask." Alex has dropped his innocent expression, and is back to looking like he's ready for more debauchery.

"Then let me answer." Braden carefully looks between Alex and Nicky as he talks. "I don't know how it happened, but you're my closest friends here. I like hanging out with you, and frankly, you're both ridiculously hot. I still remember what you said at the bar a few weeks ago, and I know you've been flirting with me. So yes, it worked. If you want me, I absolutely want to have sex with you." 

The matching smiles on Alex and Nicky's faces disappear abruptly. Alex looks confused and Nicky looks... resigned, maybe? It's not at all the reaction Braden expects, and he steps back. Has he misread the entire situation so badly? Did he really let his own ridiculous desires misinterpret friendly teasing as flirting, and side comments and come-ons? 

"Or... not. Shit. Any chance we could pretend this conversation never happened?" It's a long shot, if only because Braden certainly isn't forgetting his idiocy any time soon. He turns to leave, instead of waiting to hear Alex and Nicky's kind rejection.

"Holts--"

Alex speaks first, but it's Nicky's hand on Braden's arm that keeps him still.

"Braden, wait. Please?" Braden nods, and Alex jumps in.

"Not wrong! Dinner was a date. We flirt with you, too."

"Okay..."

"Everything you say, is true for us too." Alex isn't disagreeing with anything Braden blurted out, but there still feels like a "but..." hanging in the air between them, something to explain why Alex and Nicky both look so upset, how they have so completely misunderstood each other.

Nicky finally finds his voice. "But we weren't angling for a threesome." Braden nods, and his cheeks burn. Yeah, misread that. Got it. Just friends. Now would be an excellent time to leave, then, to go be humiliated in the privacy of his own apartment. 

"Braden, wait, please. We weren't angling for a threesome, because we want to date you."

"You--what? What?"

"We want to date you."

"But you're together. And you said--"

"We want to date you too. Not just sex. Because three better than two. But if you not want, we understand."

"Of course I want you." Braden laughs, a little harsh. "I've been basically throwing myself at you for weeks."

"Good! Then we dating you too. Boyfriends." Alex doesn't look nearly as sure as his pronouncement sounds, and that show of nerves is what finally makes Braden's chest unclench. He's still not entirely convinced that Alex and Nicky really need him in their relationship, but it's clear they want to try. And Braden is absolutely, positively in favor of trying.

"Do you want me to leave now? Take things slow?" 

"Just got you. Not letting go so quick!" Nicky doesn't add to that, but he reclaims his hold on Braden's arm and uses it to gently steer him into the living room and back to the couch. They settle with Braden in the middle, squished between Alex and Nicky, neither of whom stick to their own cushions. Alex wiggles until he can rest his head on Braden's shoulder, and Nicky presses in close and tangles their fingers together. It's not a bad way to spend the evening. 

 

+1 A Happy Ending

Braden rouses himself from an orgasm coma and heaves himself upright. The sun is peeking through the curtains, enough to suggest mid-morning, even without a phone within reach to confirm the time. Braden's brain may not be back online entirely, but he's got a plan. Which means untangling himself from the pile of limbs that are doing their best to keep him trapped. He successfully extracts himself, and shuffles around the floor in search of his t-shirt. 

"Leaving?"

Braden smiles. "Nah, just looking for a shirt. I'm not into shirtless bacon frying." Nicky tosses a smirk to Braden, then rolls out of bed and digs through his dresser. He emerges with a soft grey t-shirt that he tosses to Braden, followed by a pair of equally soft pajama pants covered in little smiling sushi. Braden chuckles quietly and pulls on the offered clothing, aware of Nicky's eyes on him as he stretches and straightens. 

"Look good in my shirt." Nicky says, smirking. 

"And Alex's pants?" Braden guesses; he can't imagine Nicky voluntarily choosing such a ridiculous print. 

"He's taller." Nicky shrugs, like it's just happenstance that Braden is currently dressed entirely in Nicky and Alex's soft, worn, well-loved clothing. 

Braden takes a moment to look at Alex, still snoring gently in the bed, then turns back to Nicky. He brings his hand up to press against the bruise he knows is peeking out of his shirt collar, the bruise that Nicky and Alex worked on together. Nicky's eyes track Braden's hand movement and he smiles again, quiet and pleased. 

Braden gives the bruise a little press, just hard enough to make his own breath catch. "Yeah, it's a good fit." He offers a hand to Nicky. "C'mon. Let's get the coffee started."


End file.
